Too Tiny?

[A.alnakkas]

Detlef, I would love a 15C temperature haha! cant wait for winter.

Wouter, I tapped the hilt on a glass and it made a TOK sound. Was Tridacna used for bigger Moro stuff?

[Indianajones]

Personally I am going towards the opinion it is tridacna, although that would be -I think; though am not an expert on Visayan/moro- quite more special n interesting than bone/ivory.

Thor; 'The problem with onomatopoeia is the . . . . '
I like mine hot and with some ketchup pls?
Whatever the material is bone or tridacna I would really leave it and not burn or wax it; its looking lovely as it is n its just a matter of time to know its real material.

Actually tridacna is/can be quite breakable material and not much used for large or long items. If it falls on a hard floor it will break. I only know this material from New Guinea shellmoney rings (socalled 'yua') and have seen only few tridacna Indonesian kerishandles.

[Royston]

Gents

I have always thought that the larger of these is bone and the other is shell ( with the opalescence ). The "bone" looks very similar to Loftey's example. My two are quite different from each other.

Regards
Roy

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Royston

Gents

I have always thought that the larger of these is bone and the other is shell ( with the opalescence ). The "bone" looks very similar to Loftey's example. My two are quite different from each other.

Regards
Roy

Hello Roy,

I think yours with the shell pommel isn't from Tridacna shell. Tridacna don't have this opalescence. At least I never have noticed this by Tridacna.

Regards,

Detlef

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Roy,

I think yours with the shell pommel isn't from Tridacna shell. Tridacna don't have this opalescence. At least I never have noticed this by Tridacna.

Regards,

Detlef

I Think Roy is suggesting that the larger one might be Tridacna, not the other one. The smaller one is obviously M.O.P.
Looks nice BTW.

[T. Koch]

I think Roy means it as he says it. If the small one of Roy's is indeed Tridacna it looks very similar to the material of this keris-hilt from the Tridacna-thread you linked to, David:



Notice the similar haze'y streaks? Couldn't it be that some parts of the clam-shell exhibit these bands - maybe the inner part of the shell near the animal itself? As you point out David, the material looks a lot like mother of pearl (MOP), however Tridacna doesen't produce MOP per sé, but the shell does get very porcelain-like layers on the very inside. I also seem to remember seing Go-stones with similar bands. The problem is that I've never actually made anything out of Tridacna, I've only whacked it with a hammer.

- Thanks for sharing them Roy - they look awesome!!

*Lotfy* If it sounds like glass or similar hard and mineral-like, I'm now 100% on the Tridacna-wagon as well.

*kai* Hi my friend! Please allow me to get back to your questions later when I have more time.


For now best wishes, - Thor

[Indianajones]

Hi Roy,
to me your larger gunonghandle certainly looks like shell and most possibly tridacna. Tridacna will get a lovely 'milky' color when handled much. This may be the difference with the initial small dagger of this thread which may not been handled much and just stored long (hence the different patine).

Depending on the size of your handle it may also be the core of another large shell; a type of conchshell (also often used as artifacts in Tibet/Nepal) which does get opalescent features after intense use/bodycontact. This type of shell is more intens or intrinsically white (while tridacna is more 'milky' 'broken' white as we call it). They can have a massive core but am not sure of small cavities in it.

[David]

Originally Posted by T. Koch

I think Roy means it as he says it. If the small one of Roy's is indeed Tridacna it looks very similar to the material of this keris-hilt from the Tridacna-thread you linked to, David:



Notice the similar haze'y streaks? Couldn't it be that some parts of the clam-shell exhibit these bands - maybe the inner part of the shell near the animal itself? As you point out David, the material looks a lot like mother of pearl (MOP), however Tridacna doesen't produce MOP per sé, but the shell does get very porcelain-like layers on the very inside. I also seem to remember seing Go-stones with similar bands. The problem is that I've never actually made anything out of Tridacna, I've only whacked it with a hammer.

Yes Thor, i agree, Roy means it as he says it. Please read his words again.
"I have always thought that the larger of these is bone and the other is shell ( with the opalescence ). The "bone" looks very similar to Loftey's example."
In other words, if the "bone" (the larger one) looks very similar to Lofty's example, and Lofty's example is indeed tridacna, then perhaps the Roy's larger hilt is also tridacna.
I am as sure as i can possibly be without having it in hand that Roy's smaller example is indeed MOP and i completely disagree that this material looks like the higher grade tridacna keris hilt that is in the thread i linked to. That hilt is a cream color (not white like Roy's) and does not exhibit the opalescence seen in Roy's smaller gunong.